After a pleasant interlude in the 'Emirates' lounge at Birmingham (described here) we boarded the huge A380 right time. They offered a very decent lunch about an hour into the seven-hour journey and the entertainment system worked correctly, although I think a degree in Information Technology is really necessary to master the intricacies. Well, I watched 'Wonder Woman' and 'Churchill', both interesting in different ways and found time to see the first episode of the television serial 'The Bridge' (which I'd somehow managed to miss when it was on terrestrial television). The combined effect of our aircraft heading east at Mach 0.93 and the earth rotating away from us [not, as I first wrote when tired, towards us] at around one revolution per day meant that our 7 hour journey appeared to have taken over ten hours as we'd moved through various Time Zones. A journey like this does rather convince you that the Earth is round (oh, alright, it's more an 'oblate spheroid').
We'd entered Dubai Terminal B using Air Bridges so we left the air conditioned cocoon of the A380 for the air-conditioned comfort of the terminal without sampling the desert heat outside. After some searching, I worked out that my flight onwards from Dubai to Yangon on EK.388 left from Terminal A. This meant descending to a subterranean level in one of a number of over-sized lifts and catching the next rubber-tyred, driverless train which transferred me to Terminal A with a choice of lifts or escalators to get to the departure level and the inevitable security re-check.
Dubai Airport: Left: Bank of over-size lifts, right: Impressive 'wall of water' feature.
I still had a walk of around 15 minutes to reach the gate where the crush of passengers seemed to be creating some problems in the smooth boarding of the aircraft. But the harrassed staff remained friendly so, after a delay, I boarded one of a number of transfer buses which were to take us to the remote Boeing 777. That journey took around 20 minutes, following a convoluted route around the perimeter of the airport, occasionally pausing for permission to cross various taxiways. By the time I was seated, I was exhausted from the sheer effort of transferring from one flight to another. We had a wait of over an hour whilst more of our passengers made the same tortuous journey to the aircraft and then whilst Air Traffic Control found a 'slot' for our departure in the apparently continuous stream of flights leaving Dubai. The cabin crew did a splendid job of keeping everybody happy during the wait. A lunch was served during 5-hour flight to Yangon but I wasn't very hungry, although I did manage to watch more episodes of 'The Bridge'. I'm afraid the entertainment system would occasionally execute an undemanded function (electrical noise, I assumed). I noticed that my seat position wasn't the only one so effected.
Burma from Above 30-Sep-2017: Approaching Yangon as the sun sets.
Our late departure from Dubai was reflected in a late arrival at Mingalardon Airport, Yangon where it was already dark. Unfortunately, the delays in Immigration were longer than I've previously experienced at Yangon. Despite the extra time this gave the baggage handlers to offload the luggage, having successfully negotiated Immigration, I was then faced with a worrying wait until, at last, my checked bag appeared on the conveyor.
Customs was quick and friendly (they X-ray hand baggage but not hold bags) and I was relieved to see my name being held up by my driver in the Arrivals Hall. I'm fraid that, matching the minor difficulties I'd experienced throughout, the journey to the 'Sule Shangri-La Hotel' (which was still the more evocative-sounding 'Traders Hotel' the last time I had a room there) took well over an hour.
I wasn't unhappy with the day - just very tired. I still find it almost incredible that such a journey is possible so quickly. In the days of sailing ships, it could take weeks, if not months, to achieve the same and in significantly less comfort than I had enjoyed.
Related posts on this website
This is one of a series of posts describing my 12th visit to Myanmar. The post Starting out is the first post in the series.
Clicking on the 'Next report' link displays the post describing the next events. In this way, you may read about the trip in sequence.
Next report on this trip.
Alternately, clicking on the 'All my Burma-2017(2) reports' link displays all the posts on this trip in reverse date-of-posting order.
All my Burma-2017(2) reports.
My photograph albums
Where necessary, clicking on an image above will display an 'uncropped' view or, alternately, pictures from may be selected, viewed or downloaded, in various sizes, from the albums listed:-
Dubai Airport, U.A.E..
Burma from Above.
Yangon Airport.
Sule Shangri-La Hotel, Yangon.
